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Classic Comparisons

Right away, we should point out that many of the versions listed in these pages are not consistently available here at Exodus. But even if they say "out of stock" the listings still have value! Many of them offer reviews, samples, links to internet versions, and much more. Please let us know if you have questions about anything here!

Once upon a time there was an old blind man with a harp. His name was Homer, and he spoke Greek, and he was really good at composing long poems about the adventures of Greek heroes. He never wrote anything down because that's just not how things were done back then, but other people did, and what Homer sang and they wrote we call The Iliad and The Odyssey.

Much more recently, you (or someone like you) stood in a bookstore and wondered why there were twelve thousand versions of these two relatively short books. Were there sequels? Did people other than Homer come up with the same stories? Or are there just different covers for one or two versions?

It's easy to resolve the problem by simply buying the least expensive copy. And it isn't just the works of Homer that present us with similar decisions: there are multiple editions of Virgil, Dante, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Cervantes' Don Quixote, etc. Does it matter which one you pick? Is cheapest always best?

Well, to quote a great philosopher, the price don't enter into it. The main reason there are so many versions of these books is because there are so many translations, and there are so many translations because foreign or ancient languages can be interpreted in so many ways. Choosing the best one can be exceedingly difficult, as each translation has its own strengths and weaknesses, and one size almost never fits all. With books written and published in English, there might be a wide selection of editions due to editorial changes or a variety of illustrators. Some books have had a number of retellings for children, and our goal is to familiarize you with which ones might best suit your needs.

That's why we've developed the Classic Comparisons pages. The issue here isn't to prove which version is the best—it's to help you figure out which version may become your favorite. Each page includes an original introduction to the text itself, links for further reading and activities online, an exclusive overview, kids' versions, and occasional extras. In the case of translation or editorial differences, we offer a side-by-side comparison chart of several versions, and if it's all about the illustrations, our pages will offer samples of the artwork. 

We started this section with an original dozen titles, but have several more in the works. Please be patient with us as several of those pages are still under construction! We hope you'll find these helpful, and that you'll learn as much from them as we did in making them.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
Did you find this review helpful?
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We Love Translations
Another site with a similar goal! She's done more of the French and Russian lit we have yet to do!
64 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 3rd grade (Ages 8-9), In-Stock Books & Materials
Adventures of Don Quixote
Dover Children's Thrift Classics
by Argentina Palacios
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Adapted or Abridged (Location: SER-ABR)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of King Arthur - Coloring Book
by Arkady Roytman
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Literary & Fantasy Coloring Books (Location: COL-LIT)
$3.39
Aladdin and Other Favorite Arabian Nights Stories
Dover Children's Thrift Classics
by Philip Smith, editor
from Dover Publications
Eastern Fairy Tales for 3rd-6th grade
$2.55 $1.60 (1 in stock)
Aladdin and Other Tales from the Arabian Nights
Puffin Classics
by N.J. Dawood, illustrated by William Harvey
from Puffin Books
Fairy Tales for 2nd-6th grade
$6.79
Arabian Nights
by Wafa' Tarnowska
from Barefoot Books
for 3rd-6th grade
$5.20 (1 in stock)
Arabian Nights - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by John Green
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Literary & Fantasy Coloring Books (Location: COL-LIT)
$3.36
Arabian Nights Entertainment
by Andrew Lang
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-5th grade
$13.59
Arabian Nights Entertainments
by Andrew Lang
from Dover Publications
for 3rd-5th grade
$16.99
Beowulf (retold)
by Michael Morpurgo
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-8th grade
$7.64
Beowulf - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by John Green
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Literary & Fantasy Coloring Books (Location: COL-LIT)
$4.24
Black Ships Before Troy
by Rosemary Sutcliff & Alan Lee
from Frances Lincoln
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$21.24
Brief History of Robin Hood
by Nigel Cawthorne
for 3rd-8th grade
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio (adapted)
by Marianna Mayer (translator and adapter), illustrated by Gerald McDermott
from Four Winds Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Chanticleer and the Fox
by Barbara Cooney
from HarperCollins
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-3rd grade
1959 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.49
Chaucer for Children
by Mrs. H.R. (Mary) Haweis
from Cheapest Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$14.99
Chaucer for Children
by Mrs. H.R. (Mary) Haweis
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$18.66
Chaucer for Children
by Mrs. H.R. (Mary) Haweis
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.49
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
from Simon and Schuster
Poetry for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$16.99 $11.60 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Dover Publications
for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 $1.50 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Eulalie
from Platt and Munk Publishers
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Cooper Edens
from Chronicle Books
for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
Arcadia
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Charles Robinson
from Princess House Books
Poetry for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Macmillan
for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
from Weathervane Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Eulalie
Popular Edition from Platt and Munk Publishers
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Children's Homer
by Padraic Colum & Willy Pogany
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$9.34 $4.80 (3 in stock)
Dangerous Journey
by Oliver Hunkin (abridger)
from Eerdmans
Allegorical and Moral Stories for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$21.25
Gilgamesh the King
by Ludmila Zeman
from Tundra Books (NY)
for 1st-4th grade
$8.49
Gilgamesh Trilogy
by Ludmila Zeman
for 1st-4th grade
in Ancient History (Location: HISW-ANC)
Kitchen Knight
by Margaret Hodges; illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
from Holiday House
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.64 $4.40 (1 in stock)
Knight's Tales Quartet
by Gerald Morris
for 2nd-5th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Little Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Joe Sutphin
from Moody Press
for 3rd-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$25.49
Little Pilgrim's Progress - Illustrated Coloring and Activity Book
by Erik M. Peterson, illustrated by Joe Sutphin
from Moody Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Literary & Fantasy Coloring Books (Location: COL-LIT)
$5.94
Odyssey (retold)
by Barbara Leonie Picard
from Oxford University
for 3rd-4th grade
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan
Facsimile Ed from Yesterday's Classics
for 2nd-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$16.11
Pilgrim's Progress (adapted)
by Written by Anna Trimiew, illustrated by Drew Rose
from Great Commission Publications
Allegorical and Moral Stories for 1st-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$16.96
Pilgrim's Progress Simplified (old)
3rd edition from A Beka Books
for 3rd grade
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Pilgrim's Progress Simplified (old)
4th edition from A Beka Books
for 3rd grade
$8.00 (4 in stock)
Pinocchio
Puffin Classics
by Carlo Collodi, translated by E. Hardin and illustrated by Gioia Fiammenghi
from Puffin Books
Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$6.79
Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Alice Carsey
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade
$15.30
Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M. A. Murray and illustrated by Roberto Innocenti
from Creative Editions
Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Pinocchio (adapted)
by Freya Littledale
from Schola Publications, Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Pinocchio - Comprehension Guide
by Deb Chapin & Laurie Detweiler
from Veritas Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Veritas Press Literature Guides (Location: LITSG-VP)
$19.00
Plutarch's Lives for Boys and Girls
by W.H. Weston (reteller), Plutarch
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
$15.26 $7.20 (1 in stock)
Robin Hood
by David Calcutt, illustrated by Graham Baker-Smith
from Barefoot Books
for 3rd-6th grade
$11.04
Robin Hood
by Jane Carruth, Illustrated by Chris Higham
from Award Publications, Limited
for 3rd-6th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Robin Hood
Dorling Kindersley Classics
by Neil Philip, illustrated by Nick Harris
2000 Paperback from DK Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Robin Hood
by Sarah Hayes, illustrated by Patrick Benson
from Henry Holt and Company
for 3rd-6th grade
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Robin Hood
Stepping Stones: A Chapter Book
by Annie Ingle (adapter), illustrated by Domenick D'Andrea
from Random House
for 1st-3rd grade
$5.94 $2.80 (1 in stock)
Robin Hood (adapted)
by J. Walker McSpadden (original text), illustrated by Greg Hildebrandt
from Unicorn Publishing House
for 2nd-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Robin Hood in Easy-to-Read Type
Dover Children's Thrift Classics
by Bob Blaisdell (reteller), illustrated by Thea Kliros
from Dover Publications
for 3rd-5th grade
$3.40 $1.60 (1 in stock)
Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children
by James Baldwin
from Yesterday's Classics
for 2nd-4th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
$10.16
Rowan Hood
by Nancy Springer
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Saint George and the Dragon
by Margaret Hodges & Trina Schart Hyman
from Little, Brown & Company
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 2nd-3rd grade
1985 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.49
Saint George and the Dragon
by Margaret Hodges & Trina Schart Hyman
Fir from Little, Brown & Company
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 2nd-3rd grade
1985 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.99
Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor
by John Yeoman (reteller), illustrated by Quentin Blake
from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 3rd-6th grade
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Song of Robin Hood
by Anne Malcolmson & Grace Castagnetta, illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton
from Houghton Mifflin
for 2nd-Adult
1948 Caldecott Honor book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.54
Stories from the Faerie Queene
by Edmund Spenser, retold by Jeanie Lang and illustrated by Rose Le Quesne
from CreateSpace
for 3rd-6th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
$7.50
Stories of Beowulf Told to the Children
by H. E. Marshall
from Yesterday's Classics
Myth & Legend for 2nd-5th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
$8.46
Stories of Robin Hood Told to the Children
by H. E. Marshall
from Yesterday's Classics
for 2nd-5th grade
$8.46 $4.40 (1 in stock)
Sword in the Tree
by Clyde Robert Bulla
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$5.09 $2.80 (3 in stock)
Tales from the Odyssey, Part 1
by Mary Pope Osborne
1st edition from Disney-Hyperion
for 2nd-5th grade
$7.64
Tales from the Odyssey, Part 2
by Mary Pope Osborne
1st edition from Disney-Hyperion
for 2nd-5th grade
$7.64
Tales of King Arthur
by Daniel and Ronne Randall
from Armadillo Books
for 3rd-6th grade
$4.80 (1 in stock)
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